Mercer | Mettl vs Safe Exam Browser

Mercer | Mettl provides online talent assessments, recruitment and learning-and-development tools, exams, certifications and remote proctoring. Organizations can create assessments for pre-hiring screening, candidate skills, employee or student development, certification exams and contests. Listed assessment types include skills, cognitive, personality, behavioral and job-fit evaluation, with custom assessments, advanced reporting and benchmarking. Its proctoring suite combines AI-assisted monitoring, human proctoring for high-stakes exams, browser lockdown and three-point candidate authentication. Secure Browser blocks test takers from leaving the test or opening unauthorized websites and software. REST APIs support assessment links, candidate registration and result sharing; question creation occurs in the account, although runtime assessments can use team-created questions. Integrations include Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas, Greenhouse, iCIMS, Workable and Zoho Recruit. The service runs on web, Windows, macOS, Linux and API-connected systems. Security details list ISO 27001:2013, ISO 9001 and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, AWS hosting and regional storage options. Pricing is on request.

Safe Exam Browser (SEB) is a browser environment for e-assessments that restricts a device to exam use. It runs locally and connects over the internet or a LAN to a learning management system or web-based exam system. Listed compatible systems include Moodle, ILIAS, OpenOlat, Open edX, Canvas, and Inspera Assessment. SEB supports encrypted exam configurations, URL filtering, restricted browser windows, and detection of virtual machines or jailbroken devices.

Controls vary by platform. On Windows, process monitoring can hide or terminate disallowed programs, while administrators can permit selected third-party applications. On iOS, Assessment Mode blocks app switching, unauthorized websites, notifications, calls, and screenshots; activation requires a SEB Quit Password. SEB has no central server or cloud service, though an optional open-source server can be self-hosted. Optional audio or video proctoring is disabled by default and requires candidate consent when configured. SEB is freeware for Windows, macOS, and iOS. The security module for application integrity verification is distributed only as a binary, not as open source.